Your chance to be heard: Help pick the new state song

December 12, 2007|By Linda Kleindienst Tallahassee Bureau Chief

TALLAHASSEE — Carl Ashley and Betsy Dixon studied up on state history, called on their decades of living in South Florida and six weeks later came up with what they hope will become the new official state song: Florida, My Home.

The tune was one of three finalists unveiled Tuesday, winners of a statewide "Just Sing, Florida" competition sponsored by the Florida Music Educators' Association and two state legislators that attracted 243 entries from around the state.

"We studied a world almanac and read about Florida history, trying to put as much as we could into the song," said Ashley, 39, of Boynton Beach, who is choir director at Saint Andrew's School in Boca Raton.

He coaxed Dixon, a poetry writer who sings with him in the Lake Osborne Presbyterian Church Choir, to collaborate.

"I've lived in Florida over 50 years and it is a beautiful and unique place," said Dixon, 67, who lives in Lantana. "I've gotten to know a lot about the land and the people so I drew on that knowledge and appreciation of the beauty that surrounds us."

Six people did the judging - including two from Florida State University's music school, two public school teachers, one music teacher and one musician who played guitar for the Backstreet Boys in '98 and '99 and has toured with Britney Spears.

Another South Florida finalist is Jan Hinton, of Pompano Beach, a music teacher at Pinecrest School who wrote Florida (Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky). The third is Christopher Marshall, of Orlando, who wrote My Florida Home.

"I am thrilled beyond words and I could not stop laughing. This is an immense honor. To get this close is very thrilling," said Hinton, who wrote her song a week before the Oct. 1 deadline. "Always loved the state, the way of life - I struggle if I don't have a lot of light ... and when I moved to Florida, I knew this was the perfect place for me."

Now it's up to the public to decide which one they like best. Voting opened at noon Tuesday and will close at midnight Jan. 10, with the winner being announced Jan. 11 at the music educators' Tampa convention.

Votes can be cast at www.justsingflorida.org. Only people who register on the site with a Florida phone number can vote - and only one vote per phone number is allowed.

The most popular tune could take the place of Old Folks At Home, which was written by Stephen Foster in 1851 and evokes images of a pre-Civil War Florida, where slaves worked the large cotton plantations.

The ballad, commonly known as Swanee River, was adopted by the Legislature as the official state song in 1935. But the lyrics contain terms such as "darkeys," are written in an exaggerated plantation dialect that recall "de banjo strumming" and glorify life on the plantation.

"It's the memory of the way Florida was and the new song will be the way Florida is," said Rep. Ed Homan, R-Tampa, who joined with Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, in the call for a new state song.

Gov. Charlie Crist shunned the tradition of having Old Folks At Home played at his January inauguration and instead opted for Florida's Song, a contemporary tune that reflects the state's diversity and was written by Charles Atkins, a 62-year-old blind Tallahassee entertainer. Atkins submitted his song, but it wasn't one of the finalists.

"I just want our state to have a beautiful song. I'd like to have an appropriate song that everyone loves to sing," said Atkins, who was disappointed his composition wasn't a finalist. Of the winners, he added, "I was expecting something a little different, something more bluesy, like Georgia. If I had heard 'the song', I would have said, 'Oh yeah!' "

Homan and Hill plan to file a bill asking the Legislature to designate the winning song as Florida's official state song. Legislators have the authority to reject the recommendation.

Attempts to reconsider Foster's tune failed in 1988 and 1997.

Linda Kleindienst can be reached at lkleindienst@sun-sentinel.com or 850-224-6214.

INFORMATIONAL BOX:

WINNING WORDS?

Here are lyrics from the finalists in the state song contest:

Florida

(Where the Sawgrass

Meets the Sky)

by Jan Hinton

Florida, where the sawgrass meets the sky.

Florida, where our hearts will ever lie.

Sitting proud in the ocean like a sentinel true,

Always shielding your own, yet giving welcome.

Florida.

Mocking birds cry and 'gators lie out in the sun.

Bridges span southward to the Keys and rockets skyward run.

The orange blossoms' sweet perfume and fireworks fill the air.

And cultures rich, our native people share.

Florida, where the sawgrass meets the sky.

Florida, where our hearts will ever lie

My Florida Home

by Christopher Marshall

Weary from travel I look down below me,

Forests and lakes in the glow of the sun,

Oh, how that welcoming vision revives me,

Fires up my spirits, My traveling's done.

Home, my Florida, home,

Wherever I wander you shine in my mind,

Here's where I grow, here's where I thrive,

Under the bluest of southern skies,

Home, my Florida home.

Florida, My Home

by Betsy Dixon and Carl Ashley

From the quaint and tropic islands,

Bordered by the sapphire sea,

Cross the 'glades and through the orange groves,

Softest breezes stir the trees,

Land of sunshine, Land of waters,

Land of palm trees, shorebirds wade.

Children singing, Freedom ringing,

Cheerful sunlight, all pervades.

LISTEN & VOTE

Sun-Sentinel.com/ statesong

Listen to clips of contenders to become our new state song.

Take our poll, and link to the Florida Music Educators' Association site to cast your official vote.